The Data Art at BBC Backstage: information visualisation for the people

This Knowledge Transfer Fellowship brings together researchers from the University of Westminster (UOW), Media Arts and Design department and the BBC in a 22-month project that develops flexible and innovative ways for BBC audiences to use its Internet services. The project draws from over 10 years of research carried out by the Fellow, Tom Corby, and Research Assistant, Gavin Baily, to develop online artworks that map information retrieved from the Internet into visual images that organize and reveal hidden information structures as visual, interactive, animations. The KT project seeks to exploit these research activities to create a new website platform (ARTLAB) providing innovate interactive and accessible ways for BBC audiences to repurpose and relate to online content.

The BBC founded its online platform, 'BBC Backstage' in 2005 as part of Learning Development to enable its audiences to recycle its online services and content through user-generated activities, in response to the Graf Report (2004) which stressed the need for the BBC to engage with 'Web 2.0' phenomena, and to develop opportunities for social interactivity. Backstage is tasked to encourage audiences to innovate new information structures using these assets and share the results under open standards remits (i.e. shareable, non-copyrighted material): for example, audiences can dynamically 'tap into' the BBC's 'content feeds' and web-based data streams (e.g. news, weather, financial and geographical data) in order to do this.

This project is important in that data visualization of this type has become an important contemporary tool for understanding and communicating the complex nature of interactions between the natural, social and economic worlds. This project presents a timely opportunity for a major public institution to directly engage non-specialist wider publics in understanding its practices in a structured and supportive environment.

The collaboration has a number of aims: to promote the idea that technology when used creatively can develop artifacts that delight, intrigue and move in the same way as other creative media; to enable understanding of scientific and technological processes using assessable visual formats, and to widen public engagement with BBC technological resources using art and design methods.

The project will be delivered in 3 overlapping phases outlined below with associated outputs: production, mentoring, dissemination.

1. A website will be built (The ARTLAB), to act as a public platform for communication with participants and to publish example artworks and tutorial materials supporting audiences in the creation of their own work. Outreach activities to the press and wider communities publicizing the project will occur as an ongoing project initiative.

2. An ongoing mentoring process will be instigated to support and provide feedback for participating audiences. In addition as part of a declared ethos of the project, audiences will be encouraged to share works and expertise via the site using dedicated online forums. The development of an active self-supporting community that engage via the ARTLAB'S forums will enable the sustainability of the project past its official end date.

3. Dissemination of the of project results will occur in a number of ways: THE ARTLAB DIY MANUAL will be published at the end of the project to provide a commentary and describe how to make works, a public blog will track development, a report for BBC managers will reflect upon and capture good practice, a public exhibition of works produced by participants and a conference will be hosted by the University of Westminster, and in-house BBC meetings will share production innovations developed during the collaboration amongst the wider BBC production community.

The immediate individual and institutional beneficiaries of this Knowledge Transfer (KT) include: BBC audiences and staff and the University of Westminster's (UOW) KT research team, staff and students. Other beneficiaries include public sector institutions engaged with creative digital content outreach strategies (e.g. libraries and museums) and policy makers concerned with public education and skills agendas.

This KT is directly relevant to the efficient delivery of public policy regarding issues of digital inclusion, literacy and higher-level digital skill development (DCMS, Digital Britain: The Interim Report, 2009). By providing new ways engaging in creative digital output it delivers intrinsic social, cultural and educational benefits for participants that directly impact on their quality of life. Additionally by increasing the number of people able to demonstrate digital life, work and economy skills (e.g. through digital media manipulation) the project produces instrumental impacts that enhance the UK's social capital by increasing knowledge and understanding of digital processes for the wider public. Additionally, the KT produces a project model that helps other public institutions looking to engage in digital inclusion initiatives (Collections Trust, What can the UK Culture Sector do for Digital Britain? 2009) by demonstrating how to activate their existing digital archival assets for the public through processes of creative engagement. Impacts for the BBC occur at social and educational, cultural and organizational levels. The KT shows how the digital arts can operate to swiftly prototype content using emerging and new technologies. This positively impacts on the Corporations ability to efficiently innovate digital projects concerned with provision of user-generated content. BBC staff benefit by learning how academic skills in analysis and critical reflection can productively underpin digital innovation projects and through increased skill development in emerging technology (cognitive growth). As noted by Skillset (2009) there is an economic imperative to generate greater wealth from the development of world-class content which is highly dependent on these types of digital expertise. These impacts allow the BBC to build the public value of its media provision and contribute to wider UK skills needs. The project bequeaths the UOW, staff with current industrial experience enabling it to more effectively adapt it's teaching and learning support to industry skills requirements, e.g. Web based project production schemes derived from BBC Backstage produce direct benefits for staff and students in terms of providing industry level skill-sets that positively impact on career and employment opportunities. UOW also benefits from the increased research opportunities arising from the KT and the experience that participation brings in future development of public facing research initiatives. Timescales for impacts are variable. Immediate benefits for BBC, UOW and audiences are expected to accrue through direct knowledge exchange outcomes occurring during project life cycle.

Specific timescales for long-term impacts are difficult to predict as many of the benefits are life-long. The persistence of the ARTLAB and its communities beyond project end will however enable the BBC to garner feedback and track future impacts. As a KT project interaction with BBC staff and audiences is central. Audiences are supported through the ARTLAB, a Web hub that disseminates expertise, tutorials and feedback. BBC staff benefit from access to UOW staff with a substantial research record over a 22-month collaborative period. Knowledge co-produced during this period concerning digital outreach programs will be disseminated for other beneficiaries through a project blog, public conference, exhibition, reports and publications.